The Niobrara County Sheriff’s Office was forced to replace an existing 911 Computer Aided Dispatch, Records Management System, and Jail Management System as the existing software system was outdated, expensive, and did not support the agency’s needs. The old program was going to cost over $22,000 annually to maintain. Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office would not own the program, or the data entered into the old program, nor was the Sheriff’s Office guaranteed what updates to the system would cost. The annual support for the new program is just under $6,000 annually, a net savings of $16,000. The Sheriff’s Office now owns the new system and all the data entered into it, giving them full control of their own information.

In conjunction with the Lusk Police Department, Sheriff Zerbe selected RIMS by Sun Ridge Systems to replace the existing system. RIMS enables both agencies to connect with 18 other Wyoming agencies for sharing emergency information and other records. In addition to the basic requirements, RIMS also meets the new 2020 guidelines on National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), a requirement for submitting statistical information to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation. This saved the County an additional $30,000.

RIMS supports the fire and EMS responders of the county by sending vital emergency dispatch information directly to responder’s cell phones…even allowing responders to map and route directions to incident locations.

The Sheriff’s Office and Police Department spent the week completing configuration, training and putting the final touches on the system which includes computer-aided dispatch, e-911, National Crime Information Center (NCIC)/Wyoming Criminal Justice Information Network (WCJIN), records management, jail management, mobile computers, and a program called Citizen RIMS.

Citizen RIMS will allow both agencies to provide vital information from RIMS to the public and news media. Citizen RIMS will provide up-to-date, live information on current incidents, arrests, inmates, warrants, press releases, and crime statistics. Additionally, citizens can even submit vacation house check requests online. Members of the community can visit the Niobrara County Sheriff’s Office website at niobraracountysheriff.org to view this information.

Nio. Co. Sheriff, Rick Zerbe, stated, “My goal is to make sure the community has access to the information they need to be safe, make informed decisions, and know what is happening in our community.”